In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American LifeA fascinating study of American life and an explanation of how American life is studied through the everyday details of ordinary living, colorfully depicting a world hundreds of years in the past. History is recorded in many ways. According to author James Deetz, the past can be seen most fully by studying the small things so often forgotten. Objects such as doorways, gravestones, musical instruments, and even shards of pottery fill in the cracks between large historical events and depict the intricacies of daily life. In his completely revised and expanded edition of In Small Things Forgotten, Deetz has added new sections that more fully acknowledge the presence of women and African Americans in Colonial America. New interpretations of archaeological finds detail how minorities influenced and were affected by the development of the Anglo-American tradition in the years following the settlers' arrival in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. Among Deetz's observations: Subtle changes in building long before the Revolutionary War hinted at the growing independence of the American colonies and their desire to be less like the British. Records of estate auctions show that many households in Colonial America contained only one chair—underscoring the patriarchal nature of the early American family. All other members of the household sat on stools or the floor. The excavation of a tiny community of freed slaves in Massachusetts reveals evidence of the transplantation of African culture to North America. |
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Page 96
... death's - head motif . Such variation was typical of rural areas , and much of this local variation was a function of relative isolation and the main- tenance of traditional culture . In the urban centers of New England , however , death's ...
... death's - head motif . Such variation was typical of rural areas , and much of this local variation was a function of relative isolation and the main- tenance of traditional culture . In the urban centers of New England , however , death's ...
Page 102
... death's - head stones in this cemetery mark such high - status persons . Within the community of Cambridge , then ... death's - heads . Across the Charles River the same pat- tern appears , but in the absence of as large a group of ...
... death's - head stones in this cemetery mark such high - status persons . Within the community of Cambridge , then ... death's - heads . Across the Charles River the same pat- tern appears , but in the absence of as large a group of ...
Page 108
... death's - head into a completely new series of designs . In cemetery after cemetery in the Plymouth , Massa- chusetts , area , we encounter strange faces atop the stones . Mouthless , blank - eyed faces with swirling hair , death's- heads ...
... death's - head into a completely new series of designs . In cemetery after cemetery in the Plymouth , Massa- chusetts , area , we encounter strange faces atop the stones . Mouthless , blank - eyed faces with swirling hair , death's- heads ...
Contents
SMALL THINGS REMEMBERED | 165 |
PARTING WAYS | 187 |
THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PAST | 223 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life James Deetz No preview available - 1996 |
Common terms and phrases
00 Item African American Anglo-American appearance architectural artifacts banjo Boston bowls building Burr Cape carved carvers Cato cellar cemetery ceramics cherub cherub design Chesapeake pipes chimney Colono ware common construction creamware death's-head decorated delftware earlier early earthenware earthfast eighteenth century England English Essex County evidence example excavated Fairbanks house Flowerdew Hundred foodways function Georgian glaze grave gravestone historical archaeology important James Deetz John Vlach known later lived Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay Colony material culture motif nineteenth century occupation past pattern pearlware period plantation planter's plates Plymouth Colony popular porch pots pottery prehistoric produced records reflect result seen seventeenth century shotgun house similar slave houses smoking pipes social South Carolina stones stoneware structure style stylistic survived teenth century tion tobacco town tradition tury typical vernacular Virginia Vlach West African worldview